In January and February, six planets will form a giant arc in the evening sky: Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, and Saturn. At the end of February, Mercury will join the fun, replacing Saturn. 

The Planet Parade 2025 kicked off on January 10. Here are must-see moments and dates:

January 13: Moon Eclipses Mars
The nearly full Moon will block the red planet Mars in an extremely rare astronomical event called an occultation.

January 17 and 18: Venus Kisses Saturn
One hour after sunset, face west to find brilliant Venus to the right of Saturn (much dimmer). If you have a telescope, you can hop from seeing Venus’ phase to Saturn’s rings in just a few seconds.

January 31: Slimmest Crescent Moon Cradles Saturn
45 minutes after sunset, look low in the western sky for the slimmest crescent Moon you’ve ever seen. Just above it will be a faint yellow “star,” the planet Saturn.

February 1: Moon Kisses Venus … And Neptune!
One hour after sunset face west and the waxing crescent Moon will appear just to the left of the vibrant planet Venus.

February 5: Moon Kisses Uranus
High in the southern sky on this night, look for the Moon hanging near a cluster of stars: the Pleiades, aka the Seven Sisters. Unseen to the naked eye, Uranus will also be nearby, about four degrees below the Moon.

February 6: Moon Kisses Jupiter
The Moon keeps moving towards the left (east). Look for the Moon tonight above the giant planet Jupiter. If you see a reddish star below Jupiter … “bullseye,” literally! You’ve found Aldebaran, which marks the eye of the bull, Taurus.

February 9: Moon, Mars, and the Twins
The Moon will appear near a triangle of stars high in the southeast that night. The brightest star isn’t a star at all and will look a little red. That’s Mars. The other stars are from the constellation Gemini, the Twins, Pollux and Castor.

Mercury is a tough planet to spot. You can only spot it during periods in its orbit called elongations, when Mercury appears to escape the Sun’s glare. The next Mercury viewing season begins at the end of February. After sunset in the western sky, the tiny planet will try to stand out just above the slimmest waxing crescent Moon on February 28.

As the planets continue wandering around the solar system, they will drop out of the evening sky one by one. Saturn is the first to ride off into the sunset around mid-February. Neptune disappears next in early March followed by Mercury and Venus in mid-March.

Uranus will leave the evening sky in April while Jupiter hangs around every evening until the end of May. And that leaves Mars who is vainly trying to keep up with the orbiting Earth and will be a nightly presence until early August 2025.

Source: farmersalmanac.com